Larry Pfohl

Probably not a lot of people would recognize the name Larry Pfohl, the offensive lineman who played for the Montreal Alouettes for three seasons from 1979 to 1981. A lot more people would recognize the name Lex Luger, the professional wrestler. The two, however, are one in the same person. Pfohl played one year at Penn State (1976) before transferring to Miami (Florida) where he also played just one season (1978). Pfohl was with the Alouettes all of 1979, but played just two games. One was the regular season opener, and the other was the Grey Cup where he went toe to toe with Dave (Dr. Death) Fennell - which sounds more like a preview of his future wrestling career than a football opponent. As it turned out, Fennell and the Eskimos beat Pfohl and the Alouettes in that 1979 title match. In 1980, Pfohl saw action in 11 games, filling in for All-Star Dan Yochum. Pfohl played only two games for the Als in the ill fated 1981 season, the year of Vince Ferragamo. The season was so bad that the Alouettes actually folded after the 81 season, and resurected as the Concorde for 1982 under new owner Charles Bronfmon. Initially all the Als player contracts were transferred from the Als to the Concorde with the excepton of Ferragamo and Pfohl who was involved in a contract dispute with the team. Pfohl's contract remained with former owner Nelson Scalbania, but Pfohl had long since departed for the Green Bay Packers of the NFL. Pfohl spent the entire 1982 season on the Packer injured list after a training camp injury. Pfohl returned to camp with the Packers in 1983, but was released before the season started. Pfohl then played in the USFL for Memphis Showboats, Jacksonville Bulls and the Tampa Bay Bandits in 1984. Following his football career, Pfohl started his professional wrestling career, resulting in several world heavyweight championships.